This was my last day in Yakima. Tomorrow I make the big move down to Klamath Falls. Because I have no one to drive a U-Haul for me (I just don't feel safe driving one, particularly if it's towing my car, and there's no room in the front of one for my cat carriers), I had to do one trip down to Klamath a few weeks ago and had to condense down to what would fit in a car. My mom and I traded cars because hers has a lot more room than mine does, and it was still quite a feat.
I gave a lot of stuff to Goodwill and contributed several boxes of household items to a friend's garage sale and even then took more bags than I remembered to count to the dumpster. I had to throw away most of my food (a lot of it perfectly good, but that I couldn't donate because it had been opened), all my cleaning supplies and various things that I just realized as I packed up the car today would NOT fit. I also had a trip to the recycling center this week where I learned that a lot of types of plastic, as well as ALL glass items, are no longer recyclable here. I feel absolutely awful knowing that there's what felt like an entire dumpster full of stuff that will be in a landfill forever because I live in a place where I can't recycle everything or because I couldn't get the help I needed to move. I'm not a hoarder (although I am a bit of a pack rat), but I keep stuff around just because I try to be pretty "green" and hate the idea of something lying around a landfill if it might have use to someone or if I can find a place to recycle it. But I just reached a point in my packing process where I didn't give a shit anymore. The sad thing is, I didn't own an unusual amount of stuff. It all had a place and could be put away. I just owned what any adult who's been on her own for nearly a decade would own. And it turns out that's a LOT. A lot that will have to be replaced when I find a new job and move away from the parents. Again. I own far too many books for just one person, but I love books. There's not a place here I could really donate them and I will NOT throw books away. Maybe someday if I really have to pare things down I'll give them to the library, but I love books and will read (or re-read) every one of them.
Tonight I'm staying in a hotel, while my poor cats stay on their own back at the apartment, because a friend took all my furniture this morning and then I foolishly packed all my blankets and sheets away. I have a very long drive and thought I'd be better off if I got a comfortable, relaxed sleep than if I tried to sleep on the floor sans blankets. Went on Priceline and got an amazing deal on a room, so I'm quite proud of myself.
I'm quite cranky at the moment because I'm in pain from trying to lift very heavy trash bags/boxes and having to do everything myself (other than the furniture, which I had help with) made me feel rather alone and frustrated. I'm feeling much more sorry for myself than is really called for, but I think if this ever happens again, I'll definitely suck it up and learn to drive the damn U-Haul.
I'd be lying if I said I'd miss Yakima, but I'll definitely miss some of the people I met here and I'll miss my apartment, which I actually really loved. A friend from work had just started to invite me out with a group of her friends, who are really cool people, and I'm sad that I didn't get the chance to know them better. One of them, a man from Mexico City who works for Univision (I think...) helped the work friend and I move all my furniture to her apartment today. As we drove in the U-Haul, he kept saying goodbye to various things in Yakima. I won't miss the town itself, although there are interesting things about living here, but I'll miss the people I didn't get to know better. And I certainly still miss my job.
Now I'm off to find a vending machine, have a cup of tea and try to enjoy my last few hours before I have to get up and spend 8 hours in a car with two cranky cats.
Pictured at the top of this post: The wiener dog races in Ellensburg, Wash., about 40 minutes from here. One of the more entertaining things I did in my first month in Yakima last year.
